Xun Pérez

Juan Javier Pérez (Xun Pérez) was born in Chiapas, Mexico and hails from the Tsotsil from the Maya people of Zinacantán. He is part of the “bats’i rock” movement, a rock movement in native languages originated in 1996, in Zinacantán, Chiapas. He studied Intercultural Communications in the Chiapas Intercultural University and documentary filmmaking in the San Cristóbal de las Casas Documentary Film School, where he produced and directed the documentary short film Nichimal Son - Música que florece (Nichimal Son - Blooming Music, 2018). Vaychiletik (Dreams) his debut feature, had its world premiere at the Biarritz Amerique Latine Festival, France (2021), where it received a Special Jury Mention for Best Documentary. It also received a Special Jury Mention for Best Mexican Documentary in the Morelia International Film Festival (2021); the “Intangible Cultural Heritage Prize” in the 41st Jean Rouch International Film Festival – Comité du Film Ethnographique, Paris, France; and the Best Documentary Award in the DOQUMENTA Film Festival, Querétaro, Mexico. The film is still being screened at several festivals around the world. He is currently developing his second documentary feature, Sueños que migran (Dreams that Migrate) and collaborating as production sound mixer and editing assistant in documentary projects with filmmakers from the Chiapas Highlands in southeastern Mexico.

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**ABOUT Sueños que migran (título provisional) [Migrant Dreams (working title)]**

Migrant Dreams (working title) tells the story of Mariano, a young Maya Tsotsil who seeks to migrate for a short while to the United States to earn the money necessary to fulfill a traditional role in his town – without knowing that this trip would change his life forever. This documentary will explore the ties that bind and reconstruct Tsotsil identity from exile in New York while examining the deep meaning of migration and origins.

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